Tangible progress was made on a number of elements for implementation of the Paris Agreement at a conference of the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), held on 8-18 May 2017 in Bonn, Germany.

The European Union welcomed the important technical and practical work carried out at the conference, but warned that much still remains to be done to put us on the road to delivering on the Paris commitments.

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: "We came here to Bonn to advance our work on the rules and instruments to implement the Paris Agreement. We leave Bonn with steadfast progress in many areas. And while much work still lies ahead of us, the cooperative talks and the tangible results show once again the unwavering determination of all of us to turn our commitments into real action".

In Paris in 2015, parties agreed to establish a detailed implementation framework for the agreement by 2018 to ensure clear and transparent rules are in place. At the Bonn conference, significant progress was made on a transparency framework and talks continued on the global stocktake, the five-year ambition cycle that will start in 2023. Steady progress was also made on adaptation and mitigation, while a workshop on long-term finance saw very constructive discussions.

Useful initial consultations were held on the design of the Facilitative Dialogue, which will take place next year to assess the overall effect of national contributions and the collective progress being made towards the global goals.

The conference also provided insight into the wide range of climate policies already being developed and implemented, both in developed and developing countries, and highlighted once again the importance of non-party stakeholders in the global climate action agenda.

The Bonn gathering, which involved sessions of UNFCCC subsidiary bodies on implementation and scientific and technological advice and an ad hoc working group on the Paris Agreement, was held in preparation of the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23), to take place on 6-17 November 2017 in Bonn, under the Presidency of Fiji.